Termina
by RedMagma
Summary: Jimmy's life turns upside down when he is diagnosed with cancer. How will this affect his friends and family. Will he be able to live and show Cindy his feelings for her? Or is this the first battle where he can't win? A story of overcoming barriers and obstacles.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron**

 **Authors Note: Welcome to my second FanFic and my first multi-chapter story.**

* * *

For 14 years, Jimmy Neutron has been a genius. Of course, geniuses need their own solitude to come up with new ideas and for Jimmy, his lab was just the very definition. The lab was essentially his second home. Almost every day, he would be working on an experiment or a new invention whether it was just to help people or to upstage Cindy, his rival. It was usually the latter. Right now, Jimmy was just finishing off a new prototype.

"And done," announced Jimmy to no one in particular. "This is sure to be my best invention yet."

Jimmy turned around to see Goddard looking up at him. " **That's what you've been saying for every invention master**."

"I know Goddard. But this time I mean it."

" **What does it do?** "

"To put it simply, it is basically a portable MRI machine that not only shows your bone structure but also your muscle structure at the same time."

Goddard had a proper look at the prototype. To him, it looked almost like a TV remote except with fewer buttons and what seemed to be a camera. He assumed the camera scanned the entire body. Goddard gave Jimmy a look which was all too recognisable by him.

"I know it is not exactly a new idea, but it is an improvement all the same. However, it is portable so I can take it anywhere I like. I just point the device at myself, push this button and soon, I shall be able to view the results on the monitor."

Jimmy waited for the full results to appear. Only the computer made any sound as it calibrated the results. After about 30 seconds, Jimmy heard a ding from the computer letting him know the results were ready to view. On the monitor, he could see a side by side comparison of the results. On the left side was the structure of his skeleton and the right side was the structure of his muscles. For some reason, he could only see the layout of both his bone and muscle structure from the neck down.

"Huh, that's strange," said Jimmy while scratching his head. "It's only showing from the neck down. I will have to fix the bugs in this device somehow."

Jimmy looked over his device to see if he could sort out the problem. Without any warning, Jimmy starts coughing. It's quiet to begin with until it develops into a coughing fit. This had all started almost a month ago but he had no idea what the issue was. Not knowing something was rare for Jimmy.

Goddard seemed concerned for Jimmy as this was not normal. In all his time of knowing Jimmy, Goddard could not recall a time where he would start coughing randomly unless it was intentional.

" **Are you alright master?** "

"I'm fine Goddard," Jimmy tried to assure. "Just been in the lab for too long."

But Jimmy was not alright. Although the coughing had eased, he was doubled against one of his tables trying to catch his breath. The coughing always seemed to knock the wind out of him.

" **The coughing has increased in magnitude three fold since this time last month.** "

"I know the coughing has gotten worse. You have to remember, both Mum and Dad took me to the hospital for a check-up. The doctor gave me some cough medicine which I would have created myself but mom will not let me after what happened last time I tried to make medicine that actually tastes nice. I've checked myself and can't find anything wrong with me. So don't worry boy, there's nothing wrong with me. I'm Jimmy Neutron in case you've forgotten. If there is something wrong with me, I can easily fix it."

Goddard lifted up his display panel to show some graphs where the data was increasing. " **Your perceived arrogance levels are rising.** "

"I really should stop doing so." Jimmy sat back in his chair. His breathing was back to normal. "To be fair, it has been a while since I have acted like a know it all. It's just, what if there is something wrong with me?" Jimmy placed both hands on his face. "Past events have dictated I can be wrong at times."

Goddard tried to comfort Jimmy. Being Jimmy's oldest invention and friend, he was always there for him even if he wasn't needed.

"Thanks Goddard." Jimmy looked at his watch. "Leaping leptons! I'm supposed to meet the gang over at the Candy Bar right now. I'm going to be late. Sorry Goddard, gotta blast."

As soon as he said those infamous words, he was off, shooting up through one of the exits, travelling towards the Candy Bar on his jetpack at over 80 miles an hour. He zigzagged people, cars and buildings. Everything he passed was a blur to him. One wrong move and he could end up in splitsville.

* * *

Cindy was growling under her breath. The other three friends knew it was best not to disrupt her when she was acting like that. They knew exactly the cause of it. Jimmy was late again. Cindy knew he was going to be late as soon as Carl and Sheen arrived without Jimmy. She spoke for the first time since realising Jimmy was going to be late.

"Ugh, where is Neutron?" Cindy asked. "He said he wasn't going to be late."

"Patience Cindy," replied Libby. "You know Jimmy. He's probably invented another invention today. Heck, we'll hear him before we see him."

"I bet he's with that Betty Quinlan," Cindy spat as if the name was unforgivable.

"Girl, I thought you two buried the hatchet just a year ago. In case you've forgotten, Betty is here with Nick on the other side of the Candy Bar."

Cindy glanced over to where Libby was referring to. Sure enough, she saw both of them on a date staring affectionately at each other while drinking their milkshakes. It reminded her of those cliché 1950's teenage romantic films where the couple would not take their eyes off each other. Cindy felt a pang a jealousy. Not because she had a thing for Nick, but the fact the boy she liked didn't like her back in the same way. Or so she thought.

"And besides," continued Libby. "You know Jimmy is all yours. Just say those three infamous words and you don't have to play this stupid game anymore."

That got Cindy's attention. But before she could come up a reply, Sheen beat her to the punch. "I love Ultralord."

Libby face palmed herself. "No Sheen, you're not helping."

"But doesn't Jimmy love Ultralord."

"That's science Sheen," Carl said. "Even I know that."

"Did you take your pills this morning Sheen?" asked Libby.

Sheen's eyes start to twitch. "Ugh, maybe."

Cindy shook her head before turning her attention back to Libby. "What do you see in that boy?"

"Don't change the subject. We're talking about you loving Jimmy."

Cindy appeared disgusted at accusation. "I so do not love Neutron. Where do you get these ideas from Libby?" Deep down, she knew she was lying. However, if her secret was ever revealed, there would be constant bombardment of questions from Libby.

"For the millionth time Cindy," groaned Libby. "It's obvious. You've loved him for who knows how long. As I said before, just tell him and he is all yours. I know the boy loves you back. There is nothing to fear."

"He does seem to blush every time we bring up your name," Carl said.

"That's true," Sheen said.

"Well!" snapped Cindy while banging her hands on the table. "Has he told you he loves me."

"Well… no he hasn't," Carl replied timidly.

"Then you have no proof he loves me. And I do not love him as well. Besides where is he? He was supposed to be here 10 minutes ago."

"Well if I'm not mistaken, that's him now," announced Libby.

Libby was right. She could hear the roar of the Jetpack increasing in magnitude as Jimmy approached the Candy Bar. Out the corner of their eyes, they could see Jimmy travelling towards them. When it came to Jimmy and his inventions, you would often hear him before you would see him. The gang could see something was wrong with the Jetpack.

"I bet 10 bucks Jimmy is going to crash into one of the windows," Sheen said.

"Prepare to lose," said Libby. "I'll say he hits the front door."

"I'm going to take a risk and say the Candy Bar sign," betted Cindy also.

"I'm last again," Carl said. "How about none of the above."

All three of them were wrong. At first it looked like Sheen was going to win the bet. However, the Jetpack had other ideas as Jimmy shot upwards towards the sky. When he was 100 feet above the ground, the Jetpack stopped working and Jimmy fell towards the ground.

Luckily, his previous adventures taught him to always be prepared so Jimmy activated the springs in his shoes to cushion the fall. By some miracle, he landed feet first with no injury other than a broken ego.

"Does that mean I won?" asked Carl.

The other three ignored Carl as Jimmy walked into the Candy Bar. He was meet by an annoyed crowd. Even Nick and Betty broke out of their trance to watch Jimmy as he entered the Candy Bar. The only sound was the doors closing behind him and the occasional cough by some of the patrons. The patrons would have laughed if they did not bear witness to these types of situations on almost a daily basis. To them it was like an old joke which had run its course. Even though they accepted these shenanigans as part of their daily lives, they still weren't happy about it. Jimmy walked over to the gang while avoiding eye contact with the other patrons. No sooner had Jimmy reached the gang, the other patrons went back to what they were doing as if nothing had happened.

"Wow Nerdtron, great landing," mocked Cindy.

"Enough with the sarcasm Vortex," Jimmy said. "I just need to get rid of a few bugs from my jetpack."

"You mean bugs like, like spi-SPIDERS!" Carl shouted. Carl was afraid of spiders. His fear of them came in between his fear of scary movies and his fear of Cindy.

"Relax Carl," Libby said. "Jimmy just means his jetpack is not working properly."

"Yeah Carl," agreed Sheen. He seemed to agree with Libby a lot more than usual. "So Jimmy, how come you arrived later than everyone else?"

"I've basically been working on a portable MRI machine that scans the bone and muscle structure of the human body and displays the results on my computer," said Jimmy. "I only created the device to better understand my body but for some reason, it only shows the results from the neck downwards."

"Maybe it can't factor in your entire head," jested Cindy.

"Cindy!" Libby said annoyed by her friend's actions.

"It's alright Libby," chuckled Jimmy. "She's slipping. She's made fun of my head at least 50 times just this past summer. Never thought I'd say this but, Cindy is running out of insults."

Libby gave Cindy a small sly smile. "I think I know the reason behind it."

Cindy started chucking nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about Libby."

Jimmy rose an eyebrow. "What's the reason?"

Libby saw how uncomfortable Cindy was. She pretty much knew Cindy's feelings for Jimmy but being a good friend, she wasn't going to spill. "Not important." Libby thought she heard Cindy exhaling in relief.

Jimmy shrugged his shoulders and sat down next to Cindy as Carl was not budging over. Both Cindy and Jimmy were internally grateful of this but the scowl on their faces said otherwise. For a few moments, there was awkward silence at the table as the gang was waiting for either Jimmy or Cindy to make another jab at each other. You could see the expressions on their faces as they tried not to make any bad comments about each other.

The silence seemed to go on forever before Cindy started talking. "So Jimmy, ready for me to win Valedictorian?"

"Huh," Jimmy said momentarily confused to the sudden question but quickly gained composure. "You wish. If past results dictate who's going to end up on top, then they may as well give me valedictorian right now."

"Are you two really arguing about that now," Libby said. "We haven't even started freshman year yet alone senior year."

"First day of high school starts in less than two weeks Libs," said Cindy. "May as well get a head start."

"Only two weeks away," Sheen complained. "Man, summer has gone quick. And even worse, no new episodes of Ultralord until winter."

"I'm scared about high school," quivered Carl. "We'll be stuck at the bottom of the food chain."

"Carl's right," Libby said. "I have to start completely again to become popular."

"Although Nick is one of the most popular kids in Retroville," Cindy said. "I think he said it would take a bit of work for him to become the king again. I mean, you remember how long it took him to become the most popular kid at middle school. This time it will take a lot longer for him."

"It might be easier for him this time. I mean, Betty and Nick have only been going out since the start of summer. Having a girlfriend in his case is the essence of coolness."

"I personally do not care about popularity," Jimmy said. "As long as I'm doing AP Chemistry and getting high grades, I'm happy."

The gang spent a fair amount of time in the Candy Bar talking about starting freshman their plans for the year, and reminiscing the past few years. After a while Jimmy suddenly got a quick but painful headache. He involuntarily placed his right hand on his forehead in grimace. This didn't go unnoticed by everyone else.

"Jimmy, you alright?" asked Libby whose voice was of concern.

"Yeah," Jimmy managed to say while rubbing his head. "Just a brain freeze, drank my milkshake a lot quicker than usual." That was a lie and they all knew it.

"But Jimmy," Carl said. "You've never gotten a brain freeze in your life."

"There's a first time for everything."

"Jimmy, we know you are lying," accused Cindy. "You haven't even ordered a milkshake so cut it out with the crap." Her voice turned serious when his face became a few shades lighter. "Are you sure you're alright? This has been going on for the past month"

Jimmy snapped around to look at Cindy with a serious look as his face regained colour. "It's just a headache alright. Even geniuses like me get them. I've already gone to get it checked and there's nothing wrong with me. Just been in the lab for too long."

Sheen, Carl and Libby all seemed to believe him while Cindy wasn't quite sure. However, she decided not to press the issue. Not long after, they decided there was nothing else to do but leave to head back to their respective houses. Libby and Sheen went one way while holding hands with Carl who was just a few feet behind them. These were one of the moments Carl wished Elke was here keeping him company. Those two were almost officially a couple. Living in two different countries was the only barrier keeping them apart.

Cindy was briefly annoyed that Libby walked off without her. However, that quickly subsided as she realised, she could walk home with Jimmy. This worked for both of them as they only lived across the street from each other. They were quiet for most of the way having nothing to talk about. It was uncomfortable silence. Both of them saw Libby and Sheen leaving holding hands. They also saw how affectionate Nick and Betty were to each other in the Candy Bar. They both wanted that type of relationship where it was just the two of them and nothing else seemed to matter.

* * *

A few streets away from their houses, Jimmy decided to hold Cindy's hand just to try out his luck. She seemed surprised but happy. Jimmy's arm seemed to be shot with electricity as he touched her hand. His heart almost forgot to restart at the bliss of the touch. Too soon had they reached their houses. They parted in opposite directions unwillingly. Jimmy reached the front door of his house before he turned around to glance at Cindy. A small smile etched across his face. He was thinking about asking her out but was waiting for the right time. At least that was the excuse he made. He thought she liked him back but the constant insults told him otherwise.

As Jimmy entered the house, he could hear the TV blaring the local news. Both his parents noticed him with a smile on his face.

"Hey Jimbo," greeted Hugh. "Great day?"

"You could say so," replied Jimmy.

"Sooo, how is Cindy?" Judy teasingly asked.

"Uh Cindy? She's good. Why do you ask?"

"I see the smile on your face. That's a Cindy smile. When are you going to ask her out?"

Jimmy was mortified. "MOM! She's just a good friend ok. Our friendship is strictly platonic and that' all its ever going to be. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be up in my room."

Both Judy and Hugh had a small chuckle as Jimmy made his way upstairs. Talking about Cindy was the easiest way to embarrass him. They knew the feelings Jimmy has for Cindy and vice-versa. Judy's chucking ended as she heard loud coughing coming from the top of the stairs. She was very much aware the coughing had gotten worse. Judy thought about taking Jimmy back to the hospital. What stopped her from doing so was Jimmy was only coughing and nothing else apart from a few small headaches. She decided to take action if it got worse. It's not like Jimmy's health could get any worse at his age. She decided to think about it right now and turned her attention back to the news.

" _-thanks for that story Jennifer,_ " the news anchor said. " _In other national news, 15 year old Californian boy Marcus Cryer has seemed to do the impossible by beating cancer twice. We go live to our field reporter Jackson Whyte whose standing by with the doctors in charge of Marcus. Jackson, good evening._ "

* * *

 **AN: That's the end of the first chapter. Honestly, I don't know how long this story is going to be. Just fair warning, it is going to be fairly long. I will try to update the story every week or two, if not sooner. Any questions you have regarding the story, just PM me.**


	2. The Last Week of Summer

**AN: The second chapter of this story is here.**

 **Anon/Guest Reviews:**

KhaliseeAvatar: Glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Hopefully you will enjoy the rest of this story.

* * *

Jimmy, Carl and Sheen were all hanging out in Jimmy's lab playing video games on The Neutronic Game Pyramid. This time, they played with controllers instead of literally stepping inside the virtual world. They had combined their favourite games; Llama Leaping, Ulralord vs Megalord and Chemistry Simulator. The end result was for Ultralord to design a chemical powerful enough to defeat Megalord while at the same time, leaping over llamas.

It was the middle of the afternoon in Retroville. Not that anyone could tell. The lab being so deep underground, no natural lighting could light up the room. Instead, artificial lighting kept the lab in light all the time. Visitors had no sense of time without the digital clock perched high on one of the walls of the lab. At this stage they had been playing for almost six hours with few breaks. It was one of the few times since the fifth grade where the boys hanged out together without the girls. Currently, Sheen was the only one playing. He was sitting upside down with his feet in the air. Jimmy and Carl was forced to stay away to prevent from getting smacked by trailing feet.

"Man, this game is child's play," said Sheen. "This is the tenth round in a row that I've won."

"That's because you're playing on level one," said Jimmy. "Are you sure you don't want me t-"

"NO! I'm on a hot streak. Ultralord needs me."

Jimmy sighed and crossed his arms. It was difficult to convince Sheen to get away from anything remotely related to Ultralord. Well, almost anything.

"Hey, Libby!" Jimmy shouted while waving to a random place.

"My queen," Sheen greeted. He leaped into the air, somehow landing on both feet and looked around trying to find Libby but could not find her. While distracted, Megalord managed to defeat Ultralord by crushing him with his iron fist.

"GAME OVER," declared the in-game announcer. The words 'Ultralord has been defeated' was shown flashing on the screen overlooking a dead Ultralord and a laughing Megalord.

"Hey!" Sheen shouted while pointing at Jimmy. "You tricked me."

Jimmy raised his arms in defence while Carl was laughing. "Sorry Sheen. It was the only way for you to stop playing."

"By using my one true weakness. You monster." Sheen was starting to become dramatic. Jimmy should have seen it coming.

"Aren't the girls at the mall though today?" asked Carl. "They did say they wouldn't get back until later."

Jimmy turned around to face Carl. "They are. I just didn't think Sheen would fall for that trick. But in all honestly, I'm not surprised."

"I'm more surprised they are still going out."

It wasn't just Carl who was surprised but the rest of the gang as well. Cindy had thought Libby was at wit's end by dating Sheen. Somehow they had lasted just over three years as a couple with no sign of slowing down. Realising Sheen made Libby happy, Cindy figured he was not that bad of a person. Just misunderstood. Still, she does get annoyed by his antics on almost a daily basis.

"Me too to be honest," Sheen said. "But that's not what the most surprising thing is. What's more surprising is Jimmy and Cindy are not dating."

"Please," scoffed Jimmy. Jimmy turned his back and walked away so the other two wouldn't see him blushing. "Why would I ever go out with Cindy? She doesn't like me in that way."

"After dating Libby for so many years, I start to pick up on signs. You know I'm not as clueless as I used to be."

"I get that, but Cindy and I will never be in a relationship in a million years."

"But what about that time in fifth grade?" asked Carl.

"Yeah, and all that flirting when you two thought you were alone," said Sheen.

"Don't forget the hand holding."

"Those events all happened in the past," Jimmy said. "I may for a brief moment had a thing for her but I definitely do not now."

"Even the kissing?"

"We kissed once. That's it. We decided to stay friends and it was the best decision we made."

"Then why are you blushing?" asked Sheen.

"I'm not blushing. Even if I was blushing, how would you know?"

"Despite the fact your back is facing us when we are talking about Cindy, you are standing in front of a mirror. We can see you blushing dude."

Jimmy gasped as he realised Sheen was right. He was too preoccupied thinking about Cindy to notice the mirror in the first place. Sheen was right, he was blushing. Jimmy never thought his face could be that red as it almost looked like a ripe tomato. He thought for a moment about denying the accusation but hesitantly told them the truth.

"Alright, so I may have a thing for Cindy," said Jimmy defeated. "I've liked her since we were eleven. Just everything about her is perfect." He turned around to face them. He had a serious look on his face. "But please don't tell Cindy and Libby about this. I want to tell her in time."

"We promise," chorused Sheen and Carl. They were high-fiving each other. After years of denial, this was a big step. They could see the end game in sight.

"Thank you guys." Jimmy was relieved. Over the years, Carl and Sheen were a lot better at keeping secrets if asked of them. Occasionally, they might spill a secret, but only if threatened.

Out of nowhere, Jimmy starts to cough once more. The intensity is a lot greater than it was before. After a few seconds, the coughing subsides but Jimmy finds himself leaning against the wall trying to catch his breath.

"Jimmy, are you ok?" asked Carl. "You've been coughing a lot as of late."

"I'm fine Carl," said Jimmy.

"You don't sound fine Jimmy," said Sheen. "This reminds me of episode 478 of Ultralord where Ultralord gets hit with coughing gas. Luckily, he saves the day in the end."

"Well I am fine. Just been in the lab for too long again. School won't come soon enough." Jimmy pauses for a moment to catch his breath. "Come one, let's leave the lab for a bit."

"Sure thing Jimmy." Carl and Sheen looked at each other in worry. There was something Jimmy was not telling them. They just didn't know what. The three left the lab and went outside. As they made their way to the front of Jimmy's house, Jimmy spots Cindy and Libby walking down the road. Both of them are carrying several bags containing clothes they bought from the mall. Only Cindy's blond hair and Libby's black cornrow braids hairstyle could be seen.

"Hey Cindy and Libby," called Jimmy.

"Oh no, I am not falling for that trick again," said Sheen.

Cindy and Libby did not respond at first. With that many bags, it was a wonder how they could see let alone hear the guys. Cindy opened the front door to her house and left the bags by the staircase to take up to Cindy's room later. That in itself was going to be a mammoth task. Once Cindy and Libby dropped their gear off, they walked over to the guys.

"Hey guys," Libby finally responded. "Boy, my legs are killing me."

"Hey look, it really is Libby and Cindy."

"Of course it is Sheen," Carl said. "What girls do we know would actually talk to us."

"Good point."

"Anyway, how was your shopping spree?" asked Jimmy.

"It was fine," Cindy replied. "We managed to find some new outfits for when we start High School."

"Looks like you bought the entire store."

"We tried," Libby said. "The employees wouldn't let us."

The two girls reminisced about their shopping spree to the guys. According to Cindy and Libby, many of their classmates were also trying to find a new look. Cindy and Libby seemed to talk about their time at the mall for hours as both Sheen and Carl were struggling to keep their eyes open. Jimmy managed to change the subject to avoid the sounds of Carl snoring whenever he fell asleep.

"So," Jimmy started. "High School starts in just over a week. Want to go into space one more time. It has been a while since all of us have gone into space."

"As long as we don't go to the moon Neutron," Cindy said. "You know what happened last time."

"I'm well aware Vortex. Besides, that was three years ago and I got you home safely."

Cindy was about to counter argue before Libby interrupted another argument. "You guys, now is not the time. But I'm keen to go to space again."

"Hopefully, my scapula won't hurt," Carl said.

"Yay, we get to go into space again," Sheen excitedly said. "Will we finally see Ultralord?"

"No," Jimmy said.

"Darn it."

"Then it's settled. We'll meet at the front of lab at precisely 0800 on Thursday."

"Fine then," said Cindy. "Are you going to tell us exactly where we're going."

"It wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you wouldn't it." Cindy scowled and placed her hands on her hips.

* * *

A couple of days later, Jimmy and Goddard was waiting in the front yard for the rest of the gang to show. He had kept them in the dark about where they were going. Not even a threat of a beating by Cindy or constant nagging by Carl could make Jimmy reveal the location. Cindy was also threating to not come on the trip but luckily Libby convinced her to think otherwise. Over the years, Libby has always looked forward to these trips as she realises not many people can do this sort of thing.

Eventually, the rest of the gang arrived. The only hint Jimmy gave them was they were going to be there overnight. He recommended they bought an overnight bag with them. This caused Carl to bring two bags with him. One for his clothes and the other bag for his inhalers, even when he already had two inhalers in his pocket. Everyone else just had a small bag with them.

"Alright Neutron," Cindy said. "Mind telling us where we are going."

"Sure thing Cindy," Jimmy said. "Since High School starts in less than a week, we are going on a short trip to Mars."

"Why Mars?" Cindy remembered the last time they took a trip to Mars. It had ended with Eustace Strych teaming up with them to help defeat the Martians. The temporary truce had ended quite quickly with Eustace joining the League of Villains a couple of weeks later.

"We don't have the time to visit a new solar system though there is one with planets that is roughly the same size as Earth that we might visit in time. However, there is an astronomical phenomenon known as a triple conjunction where Mercury, Venus, and Earth can all be seen from the sky on Mars. I want to be the first person to document this event. It only appears to occur once every 20 years on average."

"That is quite amazing and romantic eh Cindy," Libby whispered to her best friend. Cindy scowled at Libby. Libby turns her attention back to Jimmy "But won't we be there for some time. We need to drink water and The Martians hate water. They did say they would destroy us if we ever brought back water onto the planet again."

"Right you are Libby. I've already thought about that and invented this. The Neutronic Water Patch. you just put it on your arm for an hour like so." Jimmy took a patch and put the patch on his left shoulder. The patch was only a couple of inches in diameter. "It's designed in a way where you if you don't drink water for up to 48 hours, you will still be absolutely fine."

"What's the side effect Jimmy?" asked Sheen. "I can take it."

"Who says there's any side effect?"

"Says every invention you've made Neutron," answered Cindy. "Such as the pants incident, your brain drain helmet and that salesman robot. Shall I continue Nerdtron."

"Alright, alright, you've made your point. The only side effect is you will be dehydrated after the 48 hours. I'm not sure why at the moment but I will fix it. But it does mean you are going to have to drink a lot of water once we get back."

"But Jimmy," Carl started. "I'm allergic to drinking a lot of water."

"No that's only carbonated water Carl so you will be absolutely fine."

"If you say so Jimmy." Carl seemed a bit more relieved.

"Alright guys, I'm bringing my hypercube with me. So just put your bags in it and we'll be off."

The other four did what Jimmy asked them to do. All of them including Goddard hopped into the Astrocar. The Astrocar had not changed much since winning the intergalactic showdown. The only noticeable difference was the stowaway beds in case of extremely long journeys. It would be used for tonight only.

Leaving early was vital to Jimmy. A one-way trip to Mars would take around four hours in the Astrocar which would leave plenty of time to see the event occur. However, they've been on many detours in past adventures which have often delayed whatever the gang originally wanted to do.

They left Earth on time. Jimmy as usual, was in the pilot's seat. He had asked Cindy to join him as co-pilot in case anything went bad. A few times, he couldn't help but notice his female colleague. He was noticing her a lot more than he had done in the past. He swore she was wearing an updated version of the flight suit she wore the last time they went to Mars. He remembered he couldn't stop staring at the perfection that was Cindy. His heart fluctuated in speed every time he would glance in her general direction.

Cindy on the other hand was staring at Jimmy almost constantly. She was wanting to catch his eye. On the few times she did, her face turned red. Luckily for her, this wasn't noticed by Jimmy. She could sense Jimmy was avoiding her gaze. She laughed inside at the boy. He wasn't even being subtle. She looked behind her to see what their friends were doing. Surprisingly, the three of them appeared not to pay attention to her actions. However, Libby did pay attention but she was good at hiding it. She was only pretending to read the latest fashion magazine. Watching Jimmy and Cindy together was better than any movie.

* * *

They were five minutes from touchdown when Jimmy spoke. "Prepare yourself. We're about to land."

The rest of the gang looked outside the window. From their viewpoint, the ground was fairly flat apart from the large mountain they could see directly below them.

"That is one big volcano," exclaimed Sheen. He had his face stuck against the window.

"Olympus Mons, also known as Mount Olympus," said Jimmy while looking straight ahead. "At just under 70,000 feet, it is the largest volcano or mountain in the solar system. We will be landing about one-third of the way up the mountain. It will give us the best views of the astronomical event."

"70,000," said Sheen. "That's more than I can count."

"What's the largest number you know," asked Carl.

"Well apart from whatever number Jimmy just said. I would say 890."

"May I ask why?" Cindy asked.

"It's the number of episodes there have been of Ultralord," replied Libby. Cindy gave Libby a cold hard stare that could send shivers down anyone's spine. "What? Sheen made me sit through all the episodes just a couple of months ago."

Jimmy saw a ridge on the mountain directly ahead of him. He did a quick scan of the area and found the ridge was stable enough to hold them. As soon as Jimmy landed the Astrocar, Sheen bolted out the door. Jimmy, Libby and Cindy were not far behind him. Carl hesitated at first but soon followed. As soon as they got off the ship, they were amazed at the sight. Directly below them was a steep drop to the Martian surface. If they fell, they would reach the bottom in a few minutes. As they looked up, it was impossible to see the top. It seemed as if the mountain was in outer space.

"Alright, we're making good time," said Jimmy. "Just need to set up the equipment. It will take a couple of hours."

"Why do we even need equipment?" asked Carl. "Can't we see the event happening with just our eyes?"

"Only Earth. If you just look over there where I'm pointing to, you can see Earth." Jimmy pointed to an area that was in the distance. The other four tried to follow his arm. Eventually, they could see Earth. Being millions of miles away, Earth was about half the size of a marble. "We need the equipment so we can see Mercury and Venus. They're too far away and too small to see with the naked eye."

Jimmy set off to work immediately. The others helped in any way they could. Goddard was active at this time. He would be connected to the telescope to allow viewing of the event.

Sunset was upon them a lot quicker than they had anticipated. Jimmy was doing the final configurations of the machine. Everyone else was bored waiting but not as much as Sheen.

"Man, I'm bored," complained Sheen. "Can we go home now? I want to watch another 10 episodes of Ultralord."

"Enough Sheen!" snapped Jimmy. He was fuming. "I'm tired of you winging and complaining about you being bored. Find something to do."

Everyone else including Goddard looked at Jimmy weirdly. This was unlike him. One moment he was excited about the event and the next moment, he was angry. Sheen put his arms up in defence.

Jimmy quickly calmed down. He was confused about the sudden mood change as well. "I'm sorry Sheen. I don't know what came over me."

"It's ok Jimmy. I didn't mean to push your buttons."

"Thanks, Sheen. It won't happen again, I promise you. Now, configurations are all done and just in time too."

Jimmy was back to normal. It was lucky he had calmed down as Cindy swore he saw parts of his body turn green. She didn't want Jimmy to lose himself.

Over in the distance, the sun was setting. From their position, stars filled the night sky. More stars could be seen here than back on Earth.

"Alright, let's start this thing up Goddard."

" **Will do Master** ," obeyed Goddard.

Goddard connected himself up to the equipment. It took a few seconds for the monitor to show the phenomenon.

"Wow!" said everyone except Jimmy.

"Just viewing this makes you appreciate life in its very essence," said Libby.

On the monitor, all three planets could be seen. It appeared as if the planets were all stuck in each other's gravitational fields. The three planets were all positioned at different points of a triangle. The layout of each planet could be seen in detail. It was beauty at its finest.

"Not only are we witnessing three planets in close proximity to one another," said Jimmy. "But in some ways, the entire population of Earth can be seen."

"Although, we've seen Earth from space many times," said Libby. "I've never thought about how beautiful the planet is. From what we hear on the news every day about war, political turmoil and diseases, you would think Earth would appear as barren as Mercury and Venus."

Two hours were spent looking at the monitor. Both Carl and Sheen became bored after 20 minutes and were doing their own thing. The remaining three watched as the planets continued on their orbital path. Most of the time was spent looking at Earth. Seeing the Earth rotate was something only few people experience in real-time. Goddard documented the event by taking photos. Jimmy had the intention of sending the photos to NASA once they got back. Eventually, it had gotten to a point where none of them could see the planets.

As it was long day for all of them, they spent the rest of the day relaxing except for Libby. She couldn't help but remember Jimmy's outburst from earlier. She decided to question him.

"Hey Jimmy," called Libby. "Mind if I have a word with you in private?"

"Sure thing," answered Jimmy. He got up and walked over to where Libby was. Sheen also got up to follow them.

"Sheen. I only asked for Jimmy."

"I know, but it's my duty to protect you," said Sheen. "It's what Ultralord told me to do. To help those in need."

"That's sweet Sheen." Libby kissed him. "But no one will attack me alright. If so, I'll kick their arse so hard, they'll end up at Jupiter."

"That's my Libs." Sheen walked away leaving Jimmy alone with Libby.

"So, what's up?" asked Jimmy.

"It's about your outburst at Sheen earlier," answered Libby. Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes. I just want to know why. You've never been happier and you don't seem to argue with Cindy as much."

Jimmy hesitated for a moment. "I don't know. Just recently, I've been getting these mood swings. I've been able to control it but wasn't able to this time."

"What's been happening? First, you start coughing for the better part of a month. You've been experiencing headaches and now this. Jimmy, you do realise that we are worried about you."

"I appreciate that but there's nothing to worry about. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to hit the sack."

Jimmy walked off towards the campsite where Carl and Sheen were while Libby stood rooted to the spot shaking her head. It was decided that they would camp under the stars tonight. Libby re-joined Cindy.

"Why did you talk to Neutron alone?" asked Cindy. She had her hands behind her head while viewing the cosmos.

"Just talking to Jimmy about what's been happening with him the last month," said Libby. "He says he's alright but there's something he's not telling us."

Cindy sat up. "I know and I'm little bit worried about him. He's the kind of guy where he ensures us everything is alright with him when he's not. But, if he is in denial, then you can't do anything about it."

"I suppose not. Well, not at this stage. Anyway, it's not like it can get worse."

"Of course not."

Cindy and Libby decided to hit the sleeping bag. Cindy was half asleep when she heard coughing coming from Jimmy. Concern came over her as she glanced over at the sleeping boy. She just hoped she knew what the problem was.

Morning came too soon for the five teenagers. After the long trip to Mars yesterday and the hours spent watching a monitor, they were dead tired. Groans came from all of them as they realised it will be a long trip back home. They would love to stay longer but they had already done what they set out to do in the first place.

Carl was the first one ready. After using up all but three of his inhalers, he was running out. The other four were not far behind him. Taking off, Jimmy took one last look behind him at the desolate planet. He felt a tinge of sadness at the realisation of not being able to do these adventures as much before. The trip marked the end of an era. An era which was short lived.

* * *

Eventually, they got back home. Throughout the trip, Jimmy had a tingly feeling shooting through his arm to which he enjoyed. He looked over and saw Cindy holding his hand. He was too tired to pull his arm away and just enjoyed the experience. Behind them, Libby was taking photos of them. She would use it to blackmail them later if it was needed.

Everyone else headed off to their respective houses. It was dusk. Jimmy looked up and saw the night sky. This was his favourite time of the day as that's when the stars would appear in the sky. Jimmy would often look at the skies at this time and wonder if he will ever visit those stars in his lifetime. After every adventure, he would mentally tick off the stars he had visited. If he could visit every star, he would.

Climbing up the stairs, Jimmy tripped and fell. Luckily, he fell forwards and not backwards. He managed to place his hands in front of him to cushion the fall preventing any injury. Unfortunately, he was struggling to get up. For some reason, his vision was pixelated. Before he could freak out, his vision had returned to normal and he managed to pick himself up. Jimmy made it to his room without any further drama.

"What's happening to me?" Jimmy asked himself. "I need to check myself. This is not normal." Jimmy wanted to go to the lab but tiredness got the better of him and collapsed on his bed. Goddard had followed Jimmy up the stairs to his room. He had noticed everything that was happening with Jimmy. Goddard hoped it wasn't what he thought it was. It seemed as if the worse had yet to come.

* * *

 **End of second chapter. This chapter was originally going to have a scene with all five friends spending the day at Retroland. That scene was about 2000 words in total. I deleted it because it was more filler than anything else. Honestly, this is only the start. The story in my opinion will pick up in pace around chapter four. Also leave a review and PM me if you have any questions about this story. I'll make sure to answer anything about this story without giving away any spoilers.**


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